


The Final Mission

by MissAdoration



Series: Love Through the Pain [11]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Religious Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-16 12:45:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5829448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissAdoration/pseuds/MissAdoration
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When two missions go south, Steve and Natasha find themselves separated and in two different countries. Will they ever see each other again, or will Natasha's assumption about herself come true?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> At last, we begin the final story of "Love Through the Pain"! Get ready for lots of angst and drama. It's going to be a wild ride. 
> 
> Sorry for the delay in posting this, I just wasn't ready to start since I was still writing it. To be honest, I still have a couple more chapters to write, but I didn't want to make you guys wait anymore. 
> 
> Also, the reason I picked today (1/26) is because today was the day that I began talking with thegraytigress one year ago. It has been an enjoyable experience talking with her and I look forward to many more conversations in the upcoming year.
> 
> Alright, here we go!

“And in other news today, a baby girl was found outside the local hospital. A nurse says the mother came into the hospital asking for help.”

Natasha stared at the TV with wide eyes. A little girl was abandoned at the hospital. Where was the mother? What about the father?

“Steve, look at this,” Natasha said nudging her husband awake. Steve blinked his eyes a couple of times and looked toward the TV.

“The mother left the carrier on one of the inside benches along with a note saying that she couldn’t afford to care for the baby and that she wanted nothing to do with it.”

“Aww, poor baby,” Steve said.

“I feel bad for the mom too. The fact that she had the guts to abandon her child is just horrifying,” she responded.

“Wonder where the father is?”

Natasha shook her head as she turned her direction back to the TV. The news anchor went on to say the answer to Steve’s question.

“The father of the baby left after he learned that the mother was pregnant, saying he wanted nothing to do with it as well. He actually went as far as taking her to an abortion clinic. A nurse at the clinic helped her escape and call the authorities. Currently, the boy has a restraining order on her for trying to abuse her.”

“Well, someone needs to teach that kid some manners,” Steve said.

“That girl is probably scared of out her mind,” Natasha answered.

A comfortable silence fell between them as the news anchor moved onto a different news story.

“Nat, you OK?” he asked when he felt her squeeze his hand.

“I just can’t imagine what her life is going to be like. I mean, look what happened to me, my childhood was taken from me. I grew up learning how to kill people. I was tortured and beaten. I was…” She trailed off as she couldn’t finish her sentence. Steve let go of her hand and wrapped his own around her in a tight hug. He knew what Natasha was forced into the Red Room by Ivan. He knew, based on what she told him and what he read in her file and from talks with Clint about what the Red Room had done to her. Probably the worst thing that had been done to her is that she had been sterilized, not once, but twice when she was taken captive by Igor in Bahrain nearly a year ago. In fact, Igor had done so much internal damager tot her that she had to have her uterus and ovaries removed in an emergency surgery.

“Shh, it’s OK. All of that’s over now. You’re safe with me,” he soothed.

“Bahrain still ruined me! I’m damaged!” She sobbed.

“Nat, that’s not true. You healed from that, and you healed from the Red Room.”

For the next few minutes, Natasha continued to sob into his chest. He whispered softly to her, trying to comfort her. Whenever something triggered a memory of her past, she always broke down and would be in need of comfort. Yes, she had come to terms with the fact that Ivan was dead and she had killed Igor herself, but there were still numerous horrors of her past that haunted her. The only way she would get sleep is if Steve held her.

“Steve,” she said lifting her head a little. “Do you still want a family?”

Steve was taken aback by her question. Up until now, there had never been any previous talk about even the idea of having a family. Steve was too afraid to bring it up to her. He also accepted the fact that Natasha would never want to have kids based on what had happened to her. Now, here she was asking him if he still wanted a family.

“You know that I do,” he answered. “And I’ve been clinging to a hope that one day you might reconsider it.”

“I’ve been going back and forth on it the past few days. Thinking about what it would be like if we had a child of our own. I picture them running around the base, playing outside, running to our bed in a thunderstorm, and then me teaching them the same verse that Anna taught me that night,”

“I remember that night,” Steve interrupted her.

“I picture us teaching them about God, them growing up to be adults. I could go on, but we would be here awhile,” she said smiling.

“So you’re saying you want to try and adopt two of them?”

“Maybe one for starters. Maybe that little girl we just saw on the news. They never said her name, so maybe we could name her.”

“Adoptions take a long time, but if it’s what you want, we can certainly try,” Steve said taking her hands in his.

“Yes, I do want this. I want a family,” she said as she began to sob again. Steve leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers in hopes that she would draw a bit of strength from him.

“Alright,” he said leaning back to look into her eyes. “I’ll call social services and see what we have to do to start the process. Oh, Nat, I’m so excited for us right now.”

“Me too, Steve. We’re going to be a sem’ya!”

“Family,” Steve responded realized what she had said. “Never thought I’d hear you say that,” he said smiling.

“Neither did I.”

“I love you. Steve,” she whispered.

“I love you, Nat. I’m so happy that we’re doing this. More importantly, I’m happy for you in making the decision.”

“We’re gonna make it happen.”

The following day, Steve went to DC social services to inquire about adoption. In return, he received a bunch of papers that he and Natasha would have to fill out.

“Are we able to adopt the little girl that we heard about on the news?” he asked the social worker.

“I think I can arrange that. She’s currently living with me until a foster family can be found.”

“Did the mother name her?”

“Not that I was told. I’ve been calling her Natalie, or Nat," the social worker told him.

"That's what I call my wife. It's short for Natasha." 

After going over a few more details, Steve shook the social worker’s hand and left the office.

He returned to SHIELD like he had just won the lottery.

The prize.

A daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sem'ya: family


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, the real adventure begins here.

“Ugh!”

“What’s ‘ugh’?” a voice asked.

Natasha turned to see Clint standing in the doorway. He was dressed in black jeans and a slightly-fitted black T-shirt. He also had a folder tucked under his arm.

“This paperwork. Too many questions. I’m going to get writers’ cramp,” Natasha whined.

“Hey, you should talk. Ask Anna what she’s doing.”

Natasha couldn’t help but laugh a little. Everyone knew that Anna was working on a giant research paper for a summer class that she was taking. When she wasn’t with the team, she was locked in her room typing on her laptop and listening to music.

“How goes it?" Clint asked.

“Look for yourself,” she answered teasingly. Clint came into the room and surveyed Natasha’s desk. On one corner, there was a pile of paperwork with various pen marks and signatures.

“Wow, how many papers can there be just to adopt a child?”

“Tell me about it,” she said as she added another packet to the pile. “Whatcha got there?” she asked eyeing the folder.

“Oh this, nothing,” he joked holding it up.

“Oh really, since when is a folder just nothing?” Natasha asked playfully.

“You want to know?”

“Is it a mission?”

“Maybe,” Clint smiled.

“Barton!” another voice sounded. It was Anna.

“Gotta go,” he said leaving the room.

“What about the file? Can I at least read it while you’re gone?” Natasha asked. However, he didn’t hear here. “Fine, be that way,” she said to herself as she grabbed another set of papers.

Seconds later, Steve came into the room. “How’s it going?”

“Take a guess,” she responded.

“Still at it?”

Natasha nodded. “I feel like I’m writing ten million field reports.”

Steve pulled Natasha up from the desk chair and took her into his arms. It felt so good to be holding her again. He always joked that he was making up for lost time because of Bahrain.

“Just take it one paper at a time. And be thankful that were not doing an international adoption. Look what Anna’s parents went through,” he said into her hair.

Natasha smiled and nodded against his chest. She remembered Anna mentioning all the papers that her mom had to sign because she was adopted from a different country.

Clint returned minutes later, looking a little cross-eyed.

“Clint, are you OK?” Steve asked as Natasha left his arms and sat down to resume the paperwork.

“Note to self, never volunteer to proofread someone’s paper/”

“Long?”

“Try like 16 pages,” Clint answered. “Phew, I’ll be glad when that project’s over.”

“Wanna help me with this paperwork?” Steve teased.

“Haha, no. That’s your job.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Natasha said turning her chair around. “How about you show me that file.”

“What file?” he asked jokingly.

“Barton!”

“Come on, Nat. Can’t I let my eyes rest a bit?” Clint whined.

“Alright, fine. You have a half hour.”

“Deal,” Clint answered. He then left the room leaving Natasha and Steve to continue working.

* * *

 

Clint was nervous.

He knew exactly what was in the file, thus why he was stalling on showing it to Natasha. It involved something with her month-long captivity in Russia back in 2014. He was uncertain if she could handle this mission.

There were too many emotional triggers.

He hid the file in his desk drawer.

It made his stomach flip every time he looked at it.

The targets were two of Ivan’s top henchmen that were responsible for holding her. The fact that they managed to remain off-grid for over three years was proactively impressive for anyone.

“God, this mission is going to have a lot of emotional triggers for Natasha and me. Please help us to get through it and come home alive. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Time continued to pass by.

He was super nervous to show this file to her.

What if an attack took her the second she saw the names and faces? What if she declined? No, Natasha Romanoff would NEVER decline a mission.

He picked up his phone to find a message from her, asking when he was going to show her the file, to which he replied, “right now.”

* * *

 

Natasha had finally completed the paperwork and was now soaking her hand in an ice bucket.

“A half hour?” she asked when he entered her room. “More like an hour.”

“Sorry, Nat. It’s just, this mission, I’m…What are you doing?” he asked looking at her hand.

“This is what happens when you spend over a day filling out hundreds of papers.”

“Did you finish?”

“Yep, Steve is taking them to the social worker now. He’ll be back after he picks up dinner.”

“Exciting about finally starting a family?”

Natasha didn’t know how to answer him. Yes, she was, but at the same time she was nervous. What if the adoption fell through? What if they had the same thing happen to them like they did with baby Maria last year?

“Are you going to show me that file or not?” she asked completely ignoring his question.

“Nat, this mission. It’s not an easy one.”

“When are missions ever easy?” she asked teasingly.

“Yeah, that’s true. But I don’t mean ‘easy’ as in find the target and take him out.”

“What do you mean then?” Natasha asked moving her hand around in the bucket.

“Emotionally easy,” he answered. “Nat, this mission…umm…there are a lot of emotional triggers for us, more specifically for you though.”

“Let me see it, Clint. And hey, I survived Bahrain, didn’t I?”

“Barely survived,” he corrected.

“I still survived it.”

“You’re right. You came home alive. Umm, let’s go to Room 3.”

Natasha shrugged but she agreed. Removing her hand from the ice, she dried it off with the sleeve of her sweater that was hanging on the back of her chair and followed Clint. Her eyes were locked on the file that was tucked under his arm.

They sat across from each other. Clint’s hand was laying firmly on top of the file.

“Nat, before you open this and read it, I want you to be sure about it. This is probably going to be worse than Bahrain. Don’t just go because it’s with me.”

“Clint, just let me see it.”

Clint sighed and removed his hand and slid the file towards her so she could open it.

Natasha allowed her eyes to close and she opened the file. When she had it open, she slowly opened her eyes. Instantly, she saw two very familiar faces.

“Is this…” she trailed off as images started to creep into her mind. The faces were the two henchmen were the ones that restrained her whenever Ivan ordered them to. They were the ones who boarded up the window in the small room where she had been held.

“Nat,” Clint said placing her hand on top of hers and snapping her from her thoughts.

“How did you…” she trailed off again.

“They found you. They want to kill you. We’re going to find them first,” Clint answered.

Natasha nodded in understanding, but images still flooded her mind. From what Clint had just said, this mission was going to be rough. There was a possibility that she wouldn’t make it out alive, especially if they tried to take her back and succeeded.

“Nat, you don’t have to go. I could ask Anna or a member of the STRIKE team. Or I can do this by myself.”

“No, I’m going,” she stated, however an image was still stuck in her mind. It was when one of the guards was restraining her tightly to a chair with ropes that irritated her wounds.

“Nat,” Clint said getting her attention again. “Please take some time to think about this.”

“I don’t need time to think. I’m going. I didn’t see Ivan go down, but I will see these guys go down. And I’ll be the one to kill them.”

“Nat…”

“When do we start?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone. So in addition to Clint and Natasha's mission, Steve and Anna will also be going on a mission themselves. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Apparently I'm not that good at writing Steve, LOL.  
> No copyright infringement intended on the song lyrics used. The song is 'I Am Not Alone' by Kari Jobe.

Steve was confused.

Why would Coulson want to see him and Anna? Shouldn’t it be him and Natasha? What was going on?

Upon reaching Coulson’s office, he found Anna already sitting down.

“Sir. Anna,” he said as he came in.

“Have a seat, Cap.” Coulson answered.

He glanced over at Anna as he sat down next to her. She looked nervous.

“Sir, with all due respect, if this is a mission, shouldn’t I be with Nat?” he asked.

“Romanoff is in the process of possibly going on a mission with Barton at this time. I also think this will give you a chance to work with someone else,” Coulson answered.

“So I am going on a mission?”

“Yes, you and Anna are headed to Kiel, Germany. Your target. Georges Batroc.”

“Batroc? How did he end up there?” Steve asked.

“He escaped the Algerian prison about a month ago, bought a passport through the black market, and have lived there ever since.

“So he’s been hiding in Germany for 2 years? He must be good,” Anna commented.

“Good at doing evil. He’s spent thousands of dollars on weapon upgrades, chemicals, oh, and also retook possession of the _Lemurian Star_ and made it his personal headquarters.”

“Was anyone on board?” Anna asked.

“Yeah, and they now all work for him.”

“So our objective is to find the _Lemurian Star_ and retake possession of it?” Steve asked.

“Yep, and preferably bring Batroc in alive.”

“Sir, wouldn’t this mission be better suited for Agent Bennett? She has more experience than me.” Anna asked.

“I would, but if you recall, Agent Bennett is 7 months pregnant with a baby girl.”

“Wow, didn’t realize she was that far along,” Steve answered.

“Yep. Dr. Anderson says she’s doing really well and the baby is healthy.”

“I’m kinda glad her and Agent Ray are here now instead of Bahrain,” Anna commented.

“Yeah, me too.”

“So, back to the mission here. When do we leave?” Steve asked.

“Whenever you guys are ready. I’d suggest that you tell Romanoff that you’re leaving.”

“What mission is she going on?”

“I’ll let her tell you. You both are dismissed.”

Anna and Steve both shook Coulson’s hand and left the office.

* * *

 Anna walked back to her quarters a little shaken up.

She shouldn’t be.

She was a SHIELD agent.

This was her third mission. The first mission was a solo undercover mission in which she had gotten herself injured. Her second mission was just a couple months ago. It was with Natasha, and thankfully neither of them were seriously injured. That mission was also the mission that got Natasha back into the field after Bahrain.

Now here she was, leaving for a mission to Germany with Captain America!

So why was she nervous?

She stopped when she heard music coming from Natasha’s room

“I am not alone. I am not alone. You will go before me. You will never leave me.”

She thought about going to talk to Natasha. Perhaps she could give her some advice and calm her fears. She was just about to knock on the door when her phone vibrated, indicating she had a text.

“Hey, Anna. Just got done with summer school for the day. How are you doing?” it read.

“I’m alright. Can we talk on the phone?” she replied back.

Seconds later, she and Noah, her boyfriend of now nearly a year, were on the phone discussing what was going on. Due to SHIELD protocols, she couldn’t share many details.

“I’m just nervous,” she said.

“It’ll be OK. Besides, you’re with Captain America. Doesn’t that make things any better?”

“Somewhat, but the target we’re after, he can be lethal.”

“Maybe you could tell Coulson you’re not ready yet,” Noah suggested.

“No, I can’t do that. I’m a level 9 agent. Coulson will think that I can’t handle it.”

“OK, can I pray with you?”

“Sure.”

Anna closed her eyes as Noah prayed through the phone. She even felt a few tears fall down her face.

“In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

“Amen, thanks, Noah.”

“Always, Anna. Ya ukhod.”

“I ya tozhe.”

After hanging up the phone, she opened her music and turned on the same song that she heard Natasha listening to before Noah’s text had come through.

“When I walk through deep waters, I know that You will be with me.”

She let the words sink in as she laid on her bed and closed her eyes. They were very soothing ot her right now.

“Lord, you fight my every battle. And I will not fear,” she sang along.

She placed her right hand over her heart as if she was saying the pledge, but instead it was a sign that those words were embedded on her heart.

And they would stay with her through the course of the mission.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya ukhod. I ya tozhe: I care. And so do I


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this got long.

None of her shots went where they wanted to. They either were too high too low.

“Come on, get it together,” Natasha thought to herself. Even though it had been 24 hours since Clint told her about this mission, she was still on edge. That’s why she woke up early to come down here and practice.

She set up another target sheet. Her hand shook as she took aim.

Once again, she missed all of her shots.

She stepped back away from the window and let the gun fall from her trembling hand. There was no point in picking it up, so she made her way out of the shooting range and to her bedroom to lay down.

Sleep never came for her. All of the horrible memories of her captivity in Russia were coming back to haunt her. It had been a long time since she had nightmare of this.

She reached over and grabbed her phone on the nightstand and opened the bible app, hoping for something soothing. Sure enough, the first thing that caught her eye was the verse of the day. It was Psalm 23:4-“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me.”

Tapping the “read full chapter” button, she read the entire psalm two times and then switched to her music app and turned on “Just Be Held.”

* * *

 

The second he saw Natasha’s gun on the ground of the shooting range, Clint immediately rushed out to find her. He knew from a text message earlier in the morning that she had come in here. She told him that she wanted to get in some practice so that she could be sure that the two henchmen went down. He hoped that this mission would put some closure on her captivity.

Seconds later, he found her laying down on her bed. “By Your Side” by Tenth Avenue North was playing on her phone.

“You OK?” he asked. He couldn’t see her face. She was turned away from him.

“Nat?” he called a little louder. She rolled over and looked at him.

“I can’t shoot anymore,” she responded softly. Her voice was raspy from all of the tears she had shed. Clint came inside and sat on the bed.

“Nat, you don’t have to go on this mission. I can handle it by myself,” he said taking her hand in his.

“No, I’m going. I’ll find another way to kill them.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you don’t have your widow’s bite anymore.”

“Don’t remind me of that,” she thought to herself. “I’m sure,” she said. “I have those electric baton things, and I always have a knife on me.”

“Nat…”

“I mean it Clint. I’ll find a way.”

“OK. Better get ready. We’re leaving soon.”

“Where’s Steve? I need to say ‘good-bye’ first,” Natasha asked. Just then, Steve came in the room. He was wearing his new stealth suit (courtesy of Stark), and his shield was on his back.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going with me. I thought Coulson told me it was a two-man team,” Clint said. By now, Natasha was up and getting ready.

“I’m going to Germany with Anna,” Steve answered.

“Anna? Is she even qualified?”

“Coulson said she is. Besides, she’s been here for two years now.”

“What are you doing in Germany?” Clint asked.

“Georges Batroc. He escaped prison and retook possession of the _Lemurian Star_ again. He’s using it as his headquarters. Everyone who was on board now works for him,” Steve answered.

“ _Lemurian Star,_ isn’t that a satellite launch platform?”

“Yeah, this isn’t the first time he’s taken it either.”

“Wonder what he’s up to.”

“Not sure. All Coulson told us was that he’s been spending lots of dollars on weapon upgrades and apparently various kinds of chemicals.”

“Well that’s just great,” Clint groaned.

“Steve, can I talk to you?” Natasha asked as she came out of the bathroom. She was dressed in her new stealth suit, minus the widow’s bite.

She looked nervous. Steve could see it in her eyes.

“You OK?” he asked. Clint took that as his cue to leave to allow them some privacy.

“Steve, I’m going back to Russia,” she whispered as she went into his arms.

“Wha-what?”

“The file that Clint had. It was a mission to Russia.’

“What for?”

Natasha breathed slowly for a few minutes into Steve’s chest before lifting her head to speak. “When I was in Russia, there were 2 of Ivan’s henchmen who were in charge of just about everything. Somehow they managed to escape when Clint found me. Anyway, Clint tracked them and found them. They want to kill me. I’m going because I want to see them dead.”

“Nat, are you sure you can handle it? That’s a lot of emotional triggers for you. Plus, I thought you said you never wanted to see Russia again.”

“I’m sure. I want to see them killed. Especially the one that bound me to the chair.”

“Just come home in one piece. Especially since we spent over a day filling out adoption papers. We wouldn’t want to see that all go to waste,” he said as he took her into his arms again.

“I will,” she whispered into his chest.

For the next few minutes, the two of them just stood in the room as he held her tight. He knew before she even told her that something was wrong. She hardly ate or slept the previous night.

“Where are you going?” she asked looking up at him.

“Germany. Remember Batroc?” he asked.

‘Yeah, he tried to kill us with a grenade.”

“Well, he’s back. Anna and I are going after him.”

“Make sure she stays alive. She’s still new to this organization.”

“Would you still consider me new to this century?” he joked.

“In some ways, yes,” Natasha joked back. Steve closed the space in between them and gave her a tender kiss.

“See you when you get back,” he whispered.

“You too.”

* * *

 

The two groups left at the same time. Coulson said a prayer for all of them and within five minutes, they were off. If all went accordingly, everyone would be back by the end of the week, which was Anna’s birthday.

“You ready?” Clint asked. Natasha nodded slowly. She was ready to see them go down, but now ready to see their faces. What if they recognized her? What if Clint got killed, or even worse, what if she got killed?

“Hey,” he said taking her hand. “It’s not too late to say ‘no’. I can do this by myself.”

“I’ll be fine. Let’s do this.”

Clint nodded and within seconds, they were in the air.

* * *

 

It was around noon in Stalingrad when Clint landed the quinjet. Natasha somehow managed to fall asleep in the copilot’s seat. Considering how many emotional triggers that were involved with this mission, he was surprised that she stayed asleep for so long.

He hated to wake her, but they needed to come up with a plan on how they were going to attack. They also needed a plan should the worst happen to either of them.

With the jet powered down, he reached over and placed his hand gently on her shoulder.

Natasha stirred in the seat and slowly turned her head toward him. Her eyes still looked a bit sleepy.

“You OK?” he asked as he still held her shoulder.

Natasha turned her head away from him and looked down. She wasn’t OK. The fact that she knew where she was, despite being asleep, was frightening her. Maybe she should’ve let Clint do this alone.

“Nat?” Clint asked softly. She still wouldn’t look at him. She was once again trapped in a nightmare. This time was she remembering the henchmen boarding up the only window in the room where Ivan held her. They were boarding it up so she couldn’t try and escape.

“Nat,” Clint spoke a little louder. She finally turned her head when she felt him give her shoulder a light squeeze.

“Sorry,” she whispered. The look of sleepiness was gone from her eyes now, but not the trace of fear.

Clint continued to look her at her with concerned eyes. He was worried about her. He should’ve just left and not even told her about this mission in the first place. Then again, the last time he kept something from her, it took a while for her to forgive him.

Without saying another word, the two of them undid their seatbelts and moved toward the back of the jet to discuss a plan.

They sat on the floor of the jet. The contents of the file spread out in front of them. The pictures were turned upside down so that Natasha wouldn’t have to look at them.

“What if we casually walk to the house and then sneak in. I’ll shoot an arrow to get their attention. They we can engage,” Clint suggested.

“As long as I get to kill both of them. I don’t care what we do,” Natasha answered.

“Now you sound like you,” Clint said smiling. For the first time since they left DC, Natasha actually smiled. However, there was still a tiny trace of fear. This was her second mission since Bahrain. The mission that got her back into the field wasn’t as huge, just a small clean-up mission with Anna.

There was something else too. It was something he saw the second he showed him the file. It was determination. She was determined to complete this mission and return to DC.

And hopefully unscathed.

Before leaving the jet, Clint said a quick prayer, asking God to protect them both and that she wouldn’t be afraid. He also prayed that Steve and Anna would be safe on their mission as well.

Natasha took the lead in heading down the ramp, but Clint stopped her, causing her to turn back and look at him. He then took her into his arms and held her tight.

She was shaking.

“Nat, if it’s too much for you, you don’t have to do this. You can wait in the jet where I’ll know you’re safe. I can set up the webcam on my phone so you can watch. It’s OK,” he said into her hair,

She didn’t answer him at first. Silent tears were running down her face. She was scared, but she wouldn’t admit it to him. She was stronger than this. The Red room had trained her to be strong and not to be afraid.

Pulling away from Clint’s embrace, she checked both of her guns to make sure they were loaded and that she had plenty of extra magazines on her utility belt. Clint also made sure that he had enough arrows and that he had a few grenades.

“Nat, you sure you’re OK?” he asked they walked off the jet.

Natasha looked at him and nodded yes. She didn’t need to speak for she was starting to get focused on the task ahead.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we get any further, I want to apologize for the fact that one chapter may be very long and one chapter may be very short. Oh well, this story is going to be very dramatic.

They reached the house, which happened to be the same one where Natasha had been held captive three years ago, as it started to rain. An escape would be more challenging if it was pouring. Neither of them were good at running in the rain.

“You ready?” he said grabbing an arrow from his quiver. All along the two-minute walk from the quinjet, he kept asking her that and she kept answering that she was fine. Clint could tell that she wasn’t. A few times she had tripped over her feet because of how shook up she was. If he hadn’t had his hand resting on her back, she would’ve fallen.

“Nat?” he asked a little louder. “Are you-“

“I’m fine,” she snapped. “Let’s just get this over with.” Clint nodded and reached for the door.

He opened it only enough to let both of them inside before quietly closing it.

Their noses immediately picked up a weird smell that filled the entire house. It was Natasha who recognized what it was.

It was the smell of chemicals.

“Clint,” she whispered. Her stomach was already starting to feel queasy.

“You alright?” he asked as he looked at her. She was starting to look a little pale.

Natasha covered her mouth to cough, silently hoping it was quiet enough so they wouldn’t reveal themselves to the enemy. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

She covered her mouth a second time to cough. The smell was a mixture of bleach, ammonia, and some other kind of household cleaner.

“Want to wait outside? I can handle the smell,” Clint suggested.

“No, I’ll be alright.”

She coughed again. The fumes were definitely bothering her.

Once she was finally able to gain control of her breathing, she and Clint continued through the house. There was no doubt that thanks to Natasha’s coughing, the henchmen knew they were there.

The smell of chemicals was even stronger at the back of the house. Natasha had to stop and take a couple of deep breaths before going on. Thanks to the Red Room, everything that they had injected into her had caused her chest to tighten up and struggle to breathe. She wouldn’t call it asthma, but it was.

Voices could be heard on the other side of the double doors. Something about needing a new test subject since their other ones had failed.

“Clint, was that in the file?” Natasha whispered worriedly.

“No.”

Natasha couldn’t catch her breath. “Clint what if they…” She trailed off as another image of entered her mind. It was flashback to when Ivan injected her with some kind of chemical that made her remember her past. Not only did it do that, but it burned through her body.

“Nat, you can still sit this out. I can go in there myself and do this.”

She didn’t get the chance to answer him.

Both doors burst open. The smell was even stronger.

“Ah, Natalia, come back to pay us a visit?”

Natasha narrowed her eyes as she started to pull her gun. Her hand shook as she cocked it and took aim.

“Come on inside, my dear. See what we’ve been working on,’ one of the men said.

At first, neither Clint or Natasha moved. Clint was somewhat shocked that they had been found out. Then again, the henchmen probably heard them walking through the house.

Without a warning, one of the men grabbed Natasha by the wrist and forced her inside. She couldn’t even shriek as she breathed in the smell. Even Clint, who went inside when he felt a gun press into his back, was starting to feel queasy from it.

He looked around the room and the thug with his gun pressed into his back pushed him forward. All around, there were people dressed in white lab coats. Some were looking into microscopes, other were preparing syringes, and a few were staring at the commotion that was taking place.

“There’s more than two?” he asked himself. He was shocked. The file that Coulson had given him had mentioned only two targets. Where did all of these guys come from?

The sound of Natasha’s coughing pulled him from his thoughts. Clint knew that she didn’t have strong lungs, not just from the Red Room, but from the events of Bahrain. He hoped she had the strength to survive this mission. However, now that drugs were involved, things could turn ugly for both of them. Also, with the amount of men that they had to take out, gaining possession of the drugs would be difficult.

So lost in trying to create a new strategy, he didn’t realize what was going on. Natasha had passed out and was laying unmoving on the floor with one of men towering about her, slightly blocking his view of her head. The fumes probably overwhelmed her.

“Nat!” he exclaimed somewhat quietly. He started to run toward her, but the thug with the gun pulled him back and away.

“No! I gotta get to her! She needs me!” he shouted.

As he continued to struggle, he watched the man kneel down next to her.

He had a needle in his hand.

“No!” he shouted as he tried to pull away from the man dragging him.

Natasha stirred and immediately sat up to lunge toward him and pin him down, the needle falling out of his hand. Clint smiled as he watched her draw her knife and stab him in the chest.

One down.

But how many more to go?

The thug, who was still trying to drag him away from Natasha, pressed his gun into Clint’s back a second time, however this time he cocked it. Clint didn’t waste a second. He quickly wrenched his arm away and turned around to grab the thug by the wrist and flip him to the ground. The gun skidded across the room and Natasha picked it up.

“Clint!” she shouted as she tossed the gun back to him, He caught it with one hand and pointed it at the thug who was still laying on the ground. His hands were up in surrender. However, he wasn’t blocking his chest.

Placing his finger on the trigger, Clint squeezed it, but nothing happened.

He cocked it again.

Still nothing.

“Better luck next time, Hawk,” the thug sneered. Out of nowhere, he pulled another gun and fired.

Clint shouted loudly as the bullet hit his lower abdomen. Another shout escaped his lips when the thug swiped his feet out from under him and he fell to the ground in agony.

He didn’t move.

“Clint!” Natasha shouted when she heard the shot. She started to run toward him, but the stench of the room, plus whatever was injected into her minutes before was overwhelming her and she fell to her knees.

She continued to kneel on the ground, struggling to breathe as she sobbed and coughed. Clint had been shot and he wasn’t moving.

He would be dead in minutes if she didn’t get to him.

Make matters worse, the file was missing information. She never read anything about other henchmen or a drug that they were testing.

She let her body fall over and lay lifelessly on the ground as the thugs dragged Clint away and out of the room. She couldn’t go on like this. Yes, she was Black Widow and yes, she was capable of taking out multiple enemies by herself, but that was before she learned that the drugs from the Red Room were slowly killing her.

Now she was here, outnumbered, and struggling to take a single breath.

It was over.

They had failed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we begin Steve's mission. Note that everything in italics is meant to be said in French.

Steve piloted the quinjet to the airport in Hamburg, Germany. From there, he and Anna would take the train to where, according to Coulson, the _Lemurian Star_ was docked in Kiel.

“So, this guy speak English?” Anna asked as the train left the station.

“Not sure, but I know French, so I’ll be able to talk with him.”

“Good, ‘cause I don’t know a single word.”

“Hey by the way, the Widow’s bite looks good on you,” he commented.

“I wouldn’t say that around Nat if I were you. She might kill you,” Anna responded smiling.

“Oh she already knows.”

Throughout the ride, they kept following the news on Anna’s ipad to see what Batroc was up to. They wanted to catch him in case he tried to escape the country.

“He’s on every news station!” Anna exclaimed as she handed Steve her ipad. The most current story was one that was happening right now. Batroc was raiding a military base close to where he had docked the ship.

“How much longer till we get there?” Anna asked. “We can’t let him escape.”

“We’ll get off at the next stop,” Steve answered.

* * *

 Batroc and a couple of his henchmen were just leaving the base when Steve and Anna arrived. The bags that were on their backs were probably loaded up with guns and ammunition. In each of their hands they had two larger rifles.

 _“Ah. Captain, we met again,”_ Batroc declared when he saw Steve approaching.

 _“Let’s hope it will be our last,”_ Steve answered as his eyes surveyed his body. He looked more muscular than when he last tried to fight him three years ago. 

_“You think you can beat me?”_

Within seconds, a fight broke out.  

 _“Surrender, Captain!”_ Batroc shouted.

 _“Not today.”_ Steve grunted as he kicked him in the knee. Batroc stumbled, but quickly recovered.

 _“You just never give up, do you?”_ Batroc shouted as he once again stood up from being knocked down.

_“I could do this all day.”_

_“Oh yeah? Let’s see how long that lasts.”_

“Steve!”

 Steve turned his head to Anna laying on the ground. The thug that stayed was standing over her with his gun pointed directly at her chest. Steve wasted no time in rushing to her where she was laying and grabbed him by the neck while she got to her feet. He snapped it and he fell back to the ground.

“Behind you,” he said pointing the other henchmen. Anna immediately started attacking him. Within seconds, she had him pinned on the ground with the Widow’s bite fully charged and pressed against his throat.

He was dead in an instant, and now the only one who remained was Batroc.

Meanwhile, Anna and the couple of the soldiers from the military base went to go retrieve their stolen weapons.

 _“Give it up, Captain! You can’t defeat me!”_ Batroc shouted as he knocked Steve down. Steve quickly swiped his feet out from under him and pinned him down.

Batroc moved fast though, rolling over and pinning Steve down the ground.

 _“I’ll make sure to tell Widow about your untimely fate,”_ he sneered. Somehow, Steve managed to get Batroc to release his hold on him so he could stand on his feet.

Anna was just returning when Batroc trapped Steve in a chokehold that he couldn’t escape from.

“Anna! Run!” Steve groaned.

“No, not leaving you!” she shouted.

“You’ve got to! You need to call for backup!”

Before Anna could respond, Batroc had managed to cut off Steve’s oxygen supply. He left him passed out on the ground to walk toward her.

“Never seen you before,” he said grabbing her wrist. “Who are you, some Black Widow wanna-be?”

“Let go of me!” Anna demanded trying to break free. Batroc’s grip tightened even tighter.

There was no way she could flip him. She wasn’t strong enough.

With whatever strength she had left, (she wasn’t too worn out, but this took a lot of strength because of how large and muscular Batroc was), she twisted his arm and forced him to his knees.

And that’s when he let go.

“You can’t run from me! I will find you!” he shouted as she ran away.

She didn’t turn around.

Standing up, he turned around to stare at Steve, who hadn’t moved from where he had left him.

_“Now, time to get what I didn’t get before.”_

* * *

Anna ran as fast as she could get before tucking into an alley. Frantically, she pulled out her phone from where she had hidden it in her utility belt. Her fingers shook as she searched for the number for the STRIKE team.

“We’re sorry, we are unable to make your call. Please try again later,” the phone said.

She had no service.

“God, help me, and please be with Steve,” she whispered as she tucked her phone away.

As she turned to leave in search of better service, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and flinched.

“Easy, agent. I won’t hurt you,” the voice said. Anna slowly turned around to look at him.

“Who are you?” she asked apprehensively.

“Sam Wilson.”

“Please tell me that Colson sent you.”

“Yeah, he regretted not sending anyone else to help you guys,” Sam responded.

“Thank God,” Anna sighed. “I need all the help I can get.”

“That bad?”

“Yeah, and I’m Anna Flannigan by the way.”

“Nice to meet you. Umm, what happened?”

“Georges Batroc. We caught him stealing weapons from a military base. The weapons were thankfully recovered, however he knocked out Steve.”

“Did he say anything about what he was going to do to him?”

“I couldn’t hear it. Besides, it was in French and I don’t speak it at all,” Anna answered.

“Good thing I took French in High school and college. Come on,” he said holding out his hand. “Let’s get to a safe house and get that wound of yours cleaned up.”

Anna nodded and together they walked back to where Sam had parked a rental car and drove to the safe house.

Throughout the ride, she used Sam's handkerchief to apply pressure to her wound. Much to her surprise, the wound wasn't that deep. It was about two inches long and about an inch deep. 

She stared out the window in fear. She was scared. Scared for what Batroc could do to Steve. Scared that he could try and come after her or turn Steve against her. 

"Don't worry," Sam said interrupting her thoughts. "I'll keep you safe."  


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you followed me on fanfiction when I published “One Plus One Equals”, you probably remembered that I only published on Sundays from Feb to April. I just wanted to inform all that I will be doing that again. So, the next chapter for this story will not be coming until Sunday (2/14) 
> 
> Thanks in advance for sticking with me:)

Clint blinked his eyes a couple of times as he tried to focus on where he was.

He couldn’t.

At least not yet.

He placed his hand on top of his wound to find that it was still bleeding.

Wincing in pain as he sat up, he reached inside his vest and pulled out a small envelope. Inside was a picture of his family, which he always carried with him, and emergency gauze and tape.

Once his wound was somewhat bandaged, he slowly stood up and surveyed where he was: a small room with a window that had been boarded up. He recognized it as the same room where Ivan had held Natasha when she was in his custody. No wonder Natasha didn’t like to be in room alone with the door closed. He understood it better because he was experiencing it himself.

And it was scary.

His thoughts then drifted to Natasha.

Where was she?

The last time he saw her, she was trying to get to him, but had collapsed from the stench of the room.

“No!” he gasped to himself. If the henchmen saw her go down, which they probably did, they would use that to their advantage.

He had to find her. They still had a mission to complete.

Making his way to the door, he quickly grabbed the handle and turned it.

It was locked.

They had locked him in.

He was helpless. They had taken his bow and arrow. Natasha was probably dead or being forced to submit to the henchmen’s demands.

Then he remembered the grenades that he had hidden in his vest. One of them was a normal one, and the other was one that was strong enough to break a door, but not strong enough to kill him.

Standing as far away as he could, he threw the grenade at the door and ducked behind the bed. It detonated instantly

He stood up when he heard most of debris settled to the ground, He couldn’t waste a second. If the henchmen captured Natasha, he would have to free her before trying to take out the threat.

He nearly stumbled and fell when he tripped over a couple pieces of fallen wood, but that didn’t stop him from rushing out of the room.

He groaned as he made his way down the stairs. He hoped he had enough strength to get out of the nightmare that this mission had now become.

* * *

 Natasha flinched as she felt someone touch her arm. She could hardly breathe. The stench of the room was even stronger than before.

She bit her tongue as she felt something stab her. Was it a knife? No, a knife wouldn’t be that small. Plus, whatever stabbed her wouldn’t remain in her body for so long.

Another hand touched her arm, and that was when she moved.

She tried to reach for her knife, but her hand wouldn’t leave the table.

“Oh God,” she thought to herself as she felt another object stab her arm. It was very similar to the object that stabbed her just two minutes earlier.

She turned her head to the left, and suddenly everything become horribly clear.

They were injecting her with their serum.

A third object, just the first two, stabbed her.

She tried to sit up, but her hands and feet were tied down with zip ties. Were they trying to keep her still so she wouldn’t run away, or did this serum cause horrible reactions?

A fourth object, a needle, pricked her arm, and she screamed.

“Silence!” the thug shouted.

The serum continued to flood her body. She could hardly breathe. The fumes were so overwhelming that even the people who were wearing the lab coasts were wearing facial masks.

Seconds later, they were walking away from her, but not before pushing a few more needles into her. These ones were connected to long tubes, which were connected to bags of fluid. She hoped that the serum wasn’t what she was actually smelling. Maybe it just had a smell that was similar to it.

The door burst open, causing her to weakly turn her head.

“Natasha!” Clint shouted when he saw her.

“Clint!” she gasped. “Help me!” Clint ran to her and instantly pulled every needle from her body. He then pulled his knife and cut the zip ties that had now left little red lines on her wrists and ankles.

For the first few seconds, Natasha couldn’t move. The serum was working its way through her body, and it was working fast. Clint took her hand into his to feel for a pulse.

It was weak.

The sound of boots running through the house startled them both. Clint wasted no time in scooping Natasha’s shaking body into his arms. She just got her arms around his neck by the time they made it to the door.

The henchmen burst back into the room. Their guns pointed directly at Clint.

“Put her down!” one of them shouted.

“What did you do to her?” Clint yelled back.

“I said, put her down!” he shouted again.

“No! Answer me! What did you do to her?”

The henchmen didn’t answer him. Instead he started walking directly toward him. He didn’t lower his gun until he got where he needed to be.

“No! Stop! Leave me alone! Clint!” Natasha screamed as the thug pried her away from Clint’s arms. When he successfully had her and with her still screaming for help, he carried her to back to the exam table and stuck another needle into her arm.

“Clint!” Natasha screamed loudly. She was in pain. Clint wasted no time in grabbing his gun. He was about four feet from where the man was standing.

He couldn’t miss.

The thug drew his gun as well and pointed it at Clint’s head. Clint fired first. Natasha screamed as she rolled off the table to miss Clint’s bullet, which had been shot too high. She landed on the floor with a thud.

Clint couldn’t see her.

“Nat!” he shouted as he began to run toward the table. He didn’t get very far. The bullet from the thug’s gun nailed him in the calf muscle, and he fell to the ground.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the guy was walking over to deliver a killing blow with his gun. Meanwhile, Natasha had somehow managed to roll over and point her gun at the henchmen. She cocked, fired, and let the gun slip from her shaking hand.

“Don’t miss,” Clint whispered to himself when he turned his head and saw the bullet coming toward them.

She didn’t.

The bullet hit the guy in the head and he fell backward. A loud yell escaping his mouth.

With pain going through his leg and his stomach, Clint made his way over to where Natasha was laying. He picked up her gun and handed it to her. She could hardly hold it.

“Nat,” he said as he gathered her into her arms and somewhat got her into a kneeling position. “Come on. Stay with me. It’s going to be OK.”

A second gun cocked. Clint looked up to see a second thug towering over them. His gun was pointed directly at him.

He was going to be killed.

Natasha somehow managed to point her gun up toward the guy’s chest and fired just as he cocked his own. The bullet hit dead center and he fell with a thud.

He was dead.

“Clint, get me out of here,” she breathed. Her eyes were beginning to flutter closed. She was struggling to stay awake.

Without a word, Clint gathered her in his arms and painfully made his way to his feet,

“Just hang on, Nat. Stay with me,” he whispered to her as he started to leave.

They barely made it to the front of the house. Natasha was losing consciousness and he was struggling to stay standing.

Taking a deep breath, he shifted her in his arms and used his free hand to open the door, desperately hoping it wasn’t pouring outside.

Apparently that wasn’t the case.

The rain was coming down in big, heavy drops and it was on an angle. They were going to get soaked, and they still had to destroy the house and then get to the hospital.

He was just about halfway from the house and to the road when he slipped on the wet grass. Natasha instantly slipped from his arms and fell to the ground.

She wasn’t moving.

Not wasting a second, Clint quickly gathered her into his arms and was about to stand up, but another pain wave went through his body and he dropped her again.

When she regained her breath, or somewhat regained her breath, she reached up and grabbed Clint’s hand to get his attention.

“Clint,” Natasha breathed. “The house.”

He immediately knew what she was talking about. She wanted him to destroy it, along with any remnants of the red room that were still inside.

Still holding her hand, he used his other hand and grabbed the grenade that was hidden within the back of his vest and threw it at the house.

The house exploded just he got Natasha into his arms and took off running, or tried to. He groaned as he felt something hit his left shoulder. He didn’t have a second to even think about what hit him. Natasha was struggling to stay awake and was shivering from the rain. Her suit was soaked and slippery, thus making it harder for him to keep her in his arms.

“Come on, Nat. Stay with me. Stay with me. Come on,” he whispered through the pouring rain.

She was barely breathing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day! I apologize that this chapter you are about to read isn't fluffy and sweet. It's a lot of angst and drama. Please don't kill me lol:)

Clint was on the verge of collapse.

Every step he took along the hallways of the emergency wing were agonizing. On top of that, he was soaked to the bone from frantically rushing over here.

He couldn’t look at her.

She was nearly cutting off the circulation in his hand. Both knew what was coming. They would have to be separated so the doctors could examine her.

When he finally turned his head to look at her, he nearly collapsed. Her face was extremely pale. Her lips were parted slightly and she was breathing in little breaths.

“I’m right here, Nat. It’s OK. They’re going to help you,” he soothed.

“Please, Clint!” she cried. “Please don’t let them take me!”

He didn’t know what to say to her. He himself was scared to let her out of his sight. What if something happened to her while she was back there? What if something happened to him?

“Sir,” the doctor whispered. “I’m sorry, but we only allow patients beyond this point.”

The gurney stopped so Clint could pry his hand away from Natasha’s.

“No, Clint! Please no!” she cried desperately. “Please!”

“Nat, you’ll be OK. It’ll just be a few minutes.”

“No! Want you with me!”

He eventually managed to pry his hand away from hers and watched with tears as the doctors pushed the gurney through the double doors.

“Clint!” Natasha screamed. She reached back to grab onto something, anything, to stop these strangers from taking her away from her partner.

But they kept moving.

The doors closed in front of him, and he couldn’t see her anymore.

Out of nowhere, his leg buckled under him and he started to fall. He placed his palm on the wall to try and stop himself, but with how soaked it was, it wouldn’t stay and he slid down.

A nearby nurse saw him an immediately rushed to help him. Two other nurses also came over to assist and before he could object, they were wheeling him into a nearby room where they moved him to the bed.

“He’s bleeding! Get some gauze and bandages!” one of the nurses shouted. Meanwhile, the other nurse was lifting his shirt to examine the abdomen wound.

“Looks like the bleeding stopped on this one. Let’s stitch it up.”

He shivered from his clothes being soaked as the nurses worked on him. One was stitching his abdomen and the other was putting pressure on his leg.

“Sir, what is your name?” the third nurse asked.

“Clint Barton. I’m an agent of SHIELD. My partner is here too,” he responded.

“Your partners’ name?”

“Natasha Romanoff.”

Once the nurse who was treating his abdomen was finished, she had him lean forward to examine the wound on his shoulder which ended up being a bruise that would most like hurt like crap for a few days.

He closed his eyes to send up a quick prayer for Natasha, hoping that she was going to be OK. This was worse than three years ago, thus making him twice as worried. What if this chemical mixture killed her? He didn’t even know exactly what was in her for crying out loud.

His eyes opened when he heard the sound of a package being opened. It was a bandage.

“You’re not going to stitch it?” he asked.

“Already did. You fell asleep,” the nurse answered as she placed the bandage on his leg.

“Asleep? How long? Where’s my partner?” he asked worriedly.

“You’ve been asleep for about ten minutes. We’re not sure about your partner.”

Adrenaline started to pump through his veins. He had to get up and find her.

“Easy, Agent, you need to rest,” the nurse said easing him to the bed.

“Have to find my partner. Need to be near her,” he groaned as he pushed her away. Wincing in pain, he stood up and limped out of the room to the door where they had been separated.

* * *

 Natasha shivered desperately and tried her hardest to stay still as the doctors and nurses looked her over. She wanted Clint. She wanted these strange people to stop touching her.

“Easy, Natasha. It’s OK,” one of the doctors said. Natasha recognized it as Dr. Slava.

“I want Clint!” she sobbed.

“I know. It’ll just be a few minutes,” he soothed as he clasped her shoulder.

A nurse came up to her and him a tourniquet and needle.

“No! Please no!” Natasha screamed. She didn’t want any more needles inside of her.

“Shh, it’s OK. I’m just going to get a few samples so we can figure out what’s inside of you,” Dr. Slava said.

With gentle hands and a calm voice, he was able to extract five tubes of blood, which he handed off to a nurse to be tested. She finally relaxed when he pulled the needle from her vein.

It was short-lived. Another one was being pushed in.

“It’s just an IV to give you some fluids,” a nurse whispered. “Slava, do you want to do a CT scan or anything?”

“Yes. I’ll get the machine ready while you get a gown for her to change into. She’s shivering.”

Natasha flinched as she felt hands on her body remove her soaked uniform from her and pull a gown over her head. Dr. Slava returned and gently lifted her into his arms to carry her to the next room over.

“No!” she sobbed as she took sight of the machine. It reminded her of the machine that Igor placed her on when he was going to torture information out of her.

“Natasha, it’s OK,” Dr. Slava whispered as he laid her down. “It’s not going to hurt you. I promise. Just relax for me. I’ll stay right by you.”

She did her best to relax by breathing in and out, but the surface that she was laying on was hard and cold and she was still shivering from being soaked.

About halfway through the scan, Dr. Slava noticed that Natasha’s eyes were starting to close.

“Stop the scan!” he ordered to one of his nurses. “We’re losing her!” Instantly, the machine stopped. Dr. Slava wasted no time in moving her off the table and into a nearby bed with dry covers.

She was shaking violently.

“No, no. Stay awake for me,” Dr. Slava pleaded as he took her hand.

Natasha couldn’t stay awake. Her body was telling her to sleep. It was probably the serum.

“Natasha, no. Please stay awake for me,” Dr. Slava pleaded again.

“I can’t!”

And with that, she let her eyes close.

* * *

 Clint had found another wheelchair and was sitting in it to take the pressure off of his leg. A nurse had also given him a pair of scrubs to change into instead of his wet clothes. To make things worse, his cell phone and the picture of his wife and kids were damaged. Oh well, that didn’t matter. What mattered was whether his partner was still alive or not.

The door opened and Dr. Slava came out. Clint was glad that he had demanded they see him, or things would’ve been worse.

“How is she?” he asked.

“Clint, it doesn’t look good,” Dr. Slava answered. Clint tensed up at Dr. Slava’s answer. What was that supposed to mean? Was she going to die? Was she already dead?

“How bad?” Clint asked.

“Come with me to my office and I’ll explain,” Dr. Slava answered. Clint nodded and wheeled himself to where Dr. Slava was directing him.

Once inside, both took a deep breath before Dr. Slava began to speak. “Clint, Natasha’s toxicity level is in what we call the ‘danger zone’. She’s at 95% toxic.”

Clint choked on his breath when he heard the number. The last time he had heard her toxicity level, it was only at 80%.

“Whatever was injected into her did some serious damage,” Dr. Slava continued. “Whatever you did to stop it, you did it just in time.”

“Is she still alive?” Clint asked.

“Barely. Her entire immune system is shut down. Some of her major organs are also starting to fail. I managed to run only half of a CT scan.”

“What do you mean by half?”

“She lost consciousness. She’s in a coma. We’re not sure if she’ll wake up,” Dr. Slava answered.

Clint’s heart skipped a beat. Natasha in a coma? No! What if she never woke up? What if-No, he wasn’t’ even going to think that.

She was a fighter. She would pull through.

“Take me to her, please. I need to be by her side,” Clint pleaded. Dr. Slava nodded and wheeled Clint to Natasha’s room.

“Even though I ran half a scan, I was able to learn that her left kidney is dead and her right one is half-funcitioning. Her heart, lungs, and liver are also starting to show signs,” Dr. Slava explained. Clint didn’t hear him. His mind was too focused on his unconscious partner who was lying in a bed with a few blankets pulled up to her chest. Someone had also pulled back her hair away from her face. He could tell that it was still wet from the rain. “We could do a couple organ transplants, but finding donors is going to be impossible.”

“Test me,” Clint answered immediately. “I’ll donate one of my kidneys if we’re a match.”  

“OK, we’ll do a blood test tomorrow morning to confirm that you and her are the same blood type.” He then left the room to give him to privacy.

“I’m right here, Nat,” Clint said as he took her hand in his. It was cold and lifeless. He then leaned into kiss her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for how short this is.

Nothing could contain Captain America.

And that was making Batroc agitated.

Even hauling him onboard the _Lemurian Star_ was a chore because of how heavy he was.

While the ship was leaving port, Batroc and his men did absolutely everything they could to control their prisoner.

Sedatives.

Steve barely felt the needle prick his skin or the sedative actually work on him.

Hand cuffs.

He broke them instantly.

A windowless room.

He broke the door down in minutes, even taking out the one of guards who stood outside of it,

“You are a difficult man to contain, Captain,” Batroc sneered.

“I wasn’t meant to be contained,” Steve answered. “I was meant to fight to protect my country.”

Batroc scoffed in disgust as one of thugs successfully managed to manacle his hands with magnetic handcuffs.

“Now, where is my shield?” Steve asked.

“You won’t be needing it yet.”

With Batroc leading the way, Steve was led to a room that had now been turned into some kind of laboratory. In the center of the room, there was a chair where they forced him to sit. With his hands still manacled, they restrained the rest of his body into the chair. Someone also forced some kind of mouth guard into his mouth.

“Now, time to get what I didn’t get before,” Batroc spoke.

“What was that supposed to mean?” Steve thought to himself as machines started powering up. Before he could blink, some kind of contraption was compressing his skull and electrocuting him.

Steve screamed as bit down hard on the guard as he realized what was happening. Batroc was wiping his memories and turning him into a weapon.

As he continued to scream, one of the scientists pushed a needle into his skin. Steve looked to right to see a dark blue liquid flowing into his body.

The machine that was electrocuting him finally stopped and the guard was removed from his mouth, but the not he liquid that was flowing from the bag and into his skin. Steve started to struggle against the restraints.

“Hold still!” Batroc ordered.

“I won’t fight for you!” Steve shouted. 

Finally, the bag of fluid was empty, but it was quickly replaced by another one.

 “I figured you would say that. Captain,” he responded.

“You can do whatever you want to me,” Steve said as he continued to struggle. “but I won’t be your weapon.”

“You will fight for me. Or I’ll find your precious spider and kill her myself.”

“You leave her out of this,” Steve answered.

When the second bag was empty, the scientist removed the needle and helped him to his feet.

He felt different. No, he wasn’t smaller like before he received the super soldier serum, but instead he felt weaker in other ways. His thoughts were all jumbled and he couldn’t think straight.

They led him to a different area of the lab where Batroc was waiting with his shield.

“Now, let’s see if my serum worked.”

With power in his eyes, Steve took his shield from Batroc and clutched it tightly as his fingers curled around the straps.

He stood tall as Batroc outlined the details of his mission.

He was supposed to kill someone.

“You will find her. And you will kill her and bring her to me,” Batroc ordered.

“Yes, Sir.” Steve answered.

He stood at the front of the ship and stared at the sea as they sailed along.

He would complete his mission.

* * *

 

Coulson had a hard time understanding Clint as he spoke on the phone, who was trying to tell him about what had happened to Natasha.

“So, she was injected with some kind of poisonous chemical and is now in a coma?” Coulson asked.

“Yes. Dr. Slava, the one who treated her two years ago, can’t tell if she…um…she might…” Clint sobbed. He couldn’t bear to say it. It hurt him too much to even think about it.

“Make it?” Coulson asked finishing Clint’s sentence.

“Yes,” Clint managed to answer. The line then went dead.

“Oh, God, what are you doing to me?” Coulson said putting his head down.

Opening his email, he quickly sent a message to Dr. Anderson.

 As he was reading the last couple words of Dr. Anderson’s response, another call came in.

“Agent, is everything OK?” he asked after learning it was Anna.

“No, it’s Steve. Batroc has him. I managed to escape, but…” she trailed off as she couldn’t fninsh.

“Are you hurt?” Coulson asked.

“Nothing serious. Steve wouldn’t let him get to me.”

“Where are you? Did the backup I sent you arrive yet?”

“Yes. Wilson and I are at the SHIELD safe house. And Sir, I just found out about Romanoff,” Anna responded.

“I did too. I don’t know what to say. Barton hung up on me before I could question him further.”

“I want to go to Russia right now to be by her, but I’m torn because I can’t abandon Steve or this mission. Batroc is still out there.”

“Agent, this is going to sound harsh, but try your hardest not to worry about Romanoff right now. Focus on the task at hand. I’ll keep in contact with Barton on her condition. Right now there’s nothing we can do. She’s in a coma.”

“A coma? Sir, what if she never wakes up? What if the drug that’s in her kills her? What if Steve never gets to see her alive again. What if-“

“Anna,” Coulson interrupted before she could ask another question. “Just relax. Clint is with her, so she’s not alone. Also, Dr. Anderson’s en route to Russia now, and he promises he will keep her alive until Steve is by her side.”

He could tell by her response that that wasn’t much to relive her anxiety, but it would have to do for now.


	10. Chapter 10

Her hand felt like ice.

It wouldn’t warm up no matter how many times he held it in between is.

He wanted to put warm water on it, but Dr. Slava said that that would cause shock.

She looked dead.

But she wasn’t. The sound of the heart monitor chirping beside her bed proved that. 

She was in a coma, and she had been that way for a day and half now.

Dr. Anderson, who arrived yesterday evening, was doing his best to keep things positive.

It wasn’t helping.

About a half hour ago, Coulson called back and told him that Steve had been taken hostage by Batroc.

How was he to explain this to Natasha and add in what was going on with her? Bad news on top of more bad news wouldn’t sit well with her.

There was only one piece of good news. He was eligible to donate a kidney. He knew he would be benched for a few weeks, but anything to save Natasha was worth it.

While Dr. Anderson was running some kind of test, Clint decided to slip in the bathroom and change back into normal clothes. The scrubs that Dr. Slava had given him were so comfy that he didn’t want to change out of them, but if Natasha woke up and saw him like this, she would think he was a doctor or nurse and would be uneasy. Based on her mental state of mind when they arrived here, all of her fears and anxieties were coming to the surface again.

He exited the bathroom as Dr. Anderson was finishing up whatever test he had been performing. By the looks of it, he had extracted more blood which he was probably going to use to run further analysis on what was inside of her.

“This is also for the kidney transplant. Stage 2 is mixing your blood samples with hers,” Dr. Anderson explained.

“And how accurate is it knowing the fact she’s severely intoxicated?” Clint asked.

“It won’t be as accurate as someone with normal blood, but it will be close enough to make the call. Also, Dr. Slava said that he found traces of some kind of healing chemical inside of her.”

“It’s probably the beta blocker that was used on her in Bahrain,” Clint answered.

“Well, whatever it is, it’s part of what’s keeping her alive. If and when we do find out what’s in her, we need to figure out how we’re going to treat it. I’m having Coulson dig up some files on what was used for Tony Stark when he was poisoned. I heard that he had palladium in his chest, but I’m not sure what the treatment was.”

"I think it was lithium dioxide and then some kind of new element that he created,”

“Maybe Coulson can get in touch with him to see about recreating it. Although recreating an element is complicated work.”

“What if we were able to inject more of the beta blocker. Would it help her at all?” Clint asked.

“Unfortunately not. Her entire system’s been compromised. It’s a miracle she didn’t die on the way here,” Dr. Anderson answered.

“She was barely breathing when I brought her in. I didn’t think she’d make it either.”

“Well, I promised Coulson I would make sure she stays alive until Steve gets here.”

The conversation ended after a nod from Clint. He just wanted to be alone with her. Maybe one of the reasons she hadn’t woken up yet is because there was always someone else in the room that made her uneasy.

* * *

 The hours continued to drag by and Natasha still hadn’t woken up or even showed any signs of consciousness, which was making Clint worry even more.

“Come on, Nat. Please wake up. I’m right here,” he whispered as he kissed her forehead.

He could hardly eat the food that was delivered to him Thanks to Dr. Anderson a tray would be brought up to the room so that he wouldn’t have to leave the room. It was a good thing, too. He was unwilling to leave Natasha’s side for even a second. He didn’t want her to wake up and be all alone.

Just as he was finishing up, Dr. Anderson came in again to collect the tray as well as change the now empty Iv bag. Clint used this opportunity to use to the restroom.

He was drying his hands on a paper towel when Dr. Anderson called for him.

“She moved her hand. I’m going to get Dr. Slava,” he announced as Clint came closer.

“No, let me talk her back. She gets overwhelmed if there’s too many people trying to talk to her at once,” Clint responded as he sat down.

“OK. I’ll be right outside. You call me in when she’s ready.” Clint nodded and picked up Natasha’s hand. It was no longer ice cold. Instead it was nearly room temperature.

“Nat, it’s me. It’s just the two of us. Come on Nat, please wake up,” he said as he traced his thumb along her hand.

Her hand twitched a bit and then squeezed his.

She was waking up.

“Nat, it’s OK. It’s just me. I promise. You’re going to be fine.”

Now her eyes were starting to twitch. A second later, they were half-opened.

Then they closed again.

“No, no. Come on. Stay awake for me,” Clint pleaded as he stroked her forehead.

She still wouldn’t open her eyes.

"Nat, come on. Please wake up. It’s just me in here. There’s no one else.”

Her eyes started twitching again, but then stopped. He could tell that she wanted to wake up, but something was wrong. It was probably the serum she’d been given. It was probably messing with her brain or it had somehow affected her eyes from functioning properly.

“Come on, Nat, please wake up. Please open your eyes for me,” Clint pleaded. His left hand was holding onto her right and his right was stroking her forehead.

So distracted in talking, he didn’t hear the change of rhythm of the heart monitor beside her bed. At first is was beating slowly, and now it was speeding up.

She was having a seizure.


End file.
